349 



ANXl'AL ADDKKSS. 



Economic Aspects of Our Predaceous Ant 



(Pliei(h)l(' iiK'f/dccpliala) 

 Bv .1. V. I ij.i.\(i\v<)i;'i'ii. 



Even the most casiutl ohscrvcr is intcreslccl in ants. Tlicir 

 extraordiiiarv instincts apj^cal to the imagination; hence, we 

 find allusions to their indnstry and persc^verancc in the earliest 

 litcralui'c. 1000 I!. ( '., Solomon ])oint('(l to the ants for the 

 emulation of society, and correctly obser\-ed that each individ- 

 ual was ahle, instinctively, to fnlfill the demands of social life 

 without "chief, overseer, or ruler". 



Their great value in the economy of nature demands our 

 considei'ation. I'hey not only remove myi-iads of dead insects, 

 l)Ut, also, act as an inn)ortant factor in the ilesi ruction of the 

 v^ living. Forel estimated that a large colony would hi-ing in 

 100,000 daily during their greatest activity. Moi-eover, in 

 some countries predaceous ants ai'c regarded as useful allies in 

 the control of insect pests, and we might ])rofiralily consider 

 McC'ook's (1(S82)'^ suggestion, that foreign ants he introduced 

 for snch ]inrposes. 



Though ants often come into conflict with our activities, 



and tlu^re is a popular notion that they are noxious insects, 



L believe, with Forel and other leading students of the sub- 



/ ject, that a consideration of all the facts forces us to the eon- 



i elusion that as a group they arc eminently beneficial. 



Ants have become dominant insects through their splendid 

 adaptability and terrestrial habits, as has been ])ointed out by 

 several authors. Their varied diet. sim])]e homedife, and fret'- 

 doni from enemies being impoi-tant factors leading to their 

 ' success. "The worst enemies of ants are other ants, just as 

 the worst enennes of men are other men." Hence, it is a rather 

 common experience, in the tro])ics, to find that one species 

 becomes dominant in a cei'laiu region, at the exjxMise of all the 

 other ant-fauna. 



* Dates in parenthesis refer to bibliograpliy. 

 Proc. Haw. Ent. Soc. Ill, Xo. 4, May. 1917. 



